TESTS OF COLD-FORMED LEAN DUPLEX STAINLESS STEEL SUBJECTED TO WEB CRIPPLING

A series of tests was conducted to investigate the web crippling behaviour of cold-formed lean duplex stainless steel (LDSS) tubular sections. The tests were performed under two different conditions of concentrated end bearing loads, namely, the loading conditions of End-One-Flange (EOF) and the End-Two-Flange (ETF). The test specimens were failed mainly by web crippling. The test strengths were compared with the predicted strengths that calculated by the stainless steel design specifications, including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Specification, Australian/New Zealand Standard (AS/NZS) and European Code (EC). In addition, the web crippling strengths predicted by using the design equations proposed in the literature for cold-formed duplex stainless steel tubular sections were also compared with the test strengths. It was found that the predicted strengths calculated by the ASCE, AS/NZS and EC specifications are conservative and reliable. The predictions by using proposed equations in the literature are generally less conservative compared with those by ASCE, AS/NZS and EC.